Operation Sunrise (Vietnam)

Operation Sunrise was a South Vietnamese military operation undertaken against the Viet Cong insurgency in Binh Duong Province in 1962 during the Vietnam War.

President Ngo Dinh Diem started the US-backed Strategic Hamlet Program to force South Vietnam's rural populations into fortified, barbed-wire camps and prevent the Viet Cong from attacking or recruiting them. At the same time, he ordered an offensive against the Viet Cong guerrillas in the Mekong Delta region. The Viet Cong infiltrated 50 of the hamlets and took them over after either killing or intimidating the village leaders, so Diem ordered bombing raids against VC-controlled hamlets, and South Vietnamese and US pilots bombed the population centers. In addition, the South Vietnamese ARVN made use of the US-supplied M113 APCs to spearhead their advance, sweeping the rebels out of the hamlets. Dozens of Viet Cong were killed, but civilian casualties eroded popular support for Diem and led to the peasants - upset with the bombing and their resettlement - backing the Viet Cong against Diem's dictatorship and its US allies.